Center of Gravity
by Stephane Richer
Summary: You're an athlete; you should know your center of gravity.


Center of Gravity

Disclaimer: Don't own

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><p>It's not snowing, but from this angle all Tatsuya can see through the window are the rolling white clouds, a dully distorted mirror of maybe-sometime-snow. Everything in Akita seems to develop this sort of washed-out pallor in winter, a bleak overcast that sometimes makes Tatsuya want to do nothing more than curl up tighter under the covers and hibernate until the spring. It's not the cold that's the problem but the staleness of it, the resigned quality of everyone and everything in this town to the seemingly-endless wind and sleet and ice, when they'll slog heavy boot-clad feet through piles of waterlogged snow until graduation and the start of the next school year, and maybe even after that. The season hasn't even really gotten going yet and Tatsuya's almost ready for it to be over—there are a few winter things he enjoys, like ice skating and the school's Christmas festivities and the way the fresh snow looks before footprints and dogs and cars soil the surface (at least for the first month or so) and getting snow days because the teachers don't want to commute in and lying next to Wei, warmed by his body heat and two down comforters and falling asleep to the sound of his voice when he's on the phone with his mother.<p>

Waking up next to him is nice, too, although it had taken Tatsuya a while to get used to (it helps that he usually wakes up first and has sometime to organize his thoughts). Wei stirs beside him—if he rolls over even halfway, he'll probably fall off the skinny dorm bed and take the covers with him the way he's tangled up in them. He doesn't, though, grabbing at Tatsuya and drawing closer, kicking at his legs.

"Cold?"

Tatsuya does nothing to mask the amusement in his voice, and even when half asleep Wei can hear it, throwing Tatsuya a half-lidded glare before nuzzling his chest.

Tatsuya sighs. Staying in bed all day has its appeals, especially on a day like today, and especially when it's the weekend and they can. He strokes Wei's hair, lacing his fingers through the soft strands and tucking a few stray locks behind Wei's ear. Then again, today might be a good day to go skating, even with the shitty weather—the rink will probably be less crowded than on a sunny day, and they haven't been on a real date in ages.

"Wei?"

He raises his head and blinks at Tatsuya like a lazy cat.

"Want to go ice skating?"

"You mean like today?"

Tatsuya nods.

Wei drops his head back to the mattress and closes his eyes again. "It's too early. And ice skating is lame."

"Please?"

"They won't have rental skates in my size."

"Okamura-san's been able to find ones big enough for him without any trouble."

It was Okamura who put the idea into Tatsuya's head in the first place, texting him about the offseason rink renovations. Tatsuya had never really believed that skating outdoors had anything inherently better about it until he'd gone with Okamura and a few of his friends last year—and yeah, it's less comfortably cool on a cold day, but it's easy to forget the temperature when the blades attached to his feet are cutting through the ice so smoothly and the air feels open and there's natural light coming down and no rafters above his head and sound travels far and disappears instead of echoing back at him. Still, though, it won't be fun if he can't get Wei to buy into it or at least try to enjoy himself—and going by himself is out of the question.

"Well, if you really don't want to…"

Wei opens his eyes again and sighs. "Fine."

Tatsuya slides down on the bed and places a soft kiss on Wei's mouth. "You don't have to act so thrilled, though."

Wei doesn't reply but kisses Tatsuya and pulls him closer, reaching for him under the covers, tracing his fingers up the side of Tatsuya's thigh and tugging at the waistband of his pajama pants. The shock of the cold pads of Wei's fingers against the skin of his hip makes Tatsuya bite back a gasp; Wei swallows the sound in his throat but Tatsuya breaks the kiss anyway.

"Not now; we have to get ready and stuff."

Wei huffs. Tatsuya pushes him aside, crawling over him to get off the bed, ignoring the further sounds of protest.

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><p>Wei didn't tell Tatsuya he couldn't skate, although to be fair even if he had Tatsuya would have insisted on taking him skating and teaching him anyway. His struggles to stay upright remind Tatsuya of videos he's seen on the internet of newborn animals staggering around, all gangly limbs and no sense of balance or gravity, trying to make sense of the utterly foreign solid ground underneath their feet and how to steady themselves.<p>

"You're an athlete; you should know your center of gravity."

"It's hard to think about that shit when you can't balance," Wei says, throwing out his arms and almost clocking a passerby in the jaw. She squeaks and glares at him, and Tatsuya tries very hard not to snicker.

"Bend your knees."

"I'll fall."

"You'll do that anyway if you try to stay straight up," says Tatsuya, gliding around him in a circle.

"Stop showing off."

It's that moment when he really does fall, slipping and landing hard on his ass. He scowls, and seeing him like this is too much for Tatsuya, and he really does start laughing.

"It's not funny."

Tatsuya's still giggling when Wei grabs his leg out from under him and he tumbles forward, landing awkwardly, half on top of Wei, head close enough to his chest to hear his quick heartbeat but knees pressed against the ice, which melts under his body heat and starts to soak through the fabric of his jeans.

"How does that feel?" There's a note of smugness in Wei's tone, although Tatsuya would be the first to admit that he very much deserves what he's getting.

Tatsuya slides all the way onto Wei's lap and puts his hands on Wei's shoulders. "Nice, actually."

He leans in closer. Wei flushes a brilliant, peach-like pink.

"People…can see…"

His breath is heavy, visible in giant puffs of condensation in the air. Tatsuya grins.

"Yeah."

Wei pushes him off and looks to the side, failing miserably at hiding his face from Tatsuya. "Just…help me up or something."

Tatsuya stands up and holds out his hand, grabbing Wei's and pulling him up—despite his weight, it's not too difficult.

"Okay, so are you going to bend your knees now?"

Wei nods and complies, slouching awkwardly—it's not really the right way but it's an improvement over his previous flagpole-rigid posture. It looks even more ridiculous, though, like he's trying and utterly failing at some kind of trendy dance.

"Like this?"

"Great," says Tatsuya.

There's only so much he can get out of this kind of thing, though. Tatsuya extends both of his hands and Wei cautiously takes them. It's actually easier when he's slouching like this; they're closer to the same level—not that Wei isn't still a lot taller, but it makes a difference. Tatsuya begins to skate backwards, dragging Wei along; it feels like he's a tugboat pulling a giant barge along a deep river, steady and sure. Wei's grip around his hands tightens, almost crushingly—and then backs off a bit as he starts to become more comfortable with the motion.

"If we crash, it's your fault," says Wei.

"We won't," says Tatsuya.

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><p>The white clouds are darkening to a barely-backlit grey above them, and the solid ground is strange underneath Tatsuya's soles after having been out on the ice for so long. His feet themselves feel almost surreally light, as if he's cheating gravity.<p>

"It was fun; wasn't it?"

Wei shrugs, but entwines his fingers in Tatsuya's and stuffs their hands into his coat pocket. "It was okay."

Tatsuya squeezes his hand and smiles up at him—now that Wei isn't bending his knees to an absurd degree, they're back to the usual angle between their faces and Tatsuya can properly see the sharp contours of Wei's cheekbones and the way his hair falls around the outlines of his ear like a blanket draped over a couch.

Wei peers down at him. "What?"

"Nothing."

"Really?" Wei's pace slows and he adjusts his grip on Tatsuya's hand.

"Really."

They stop. It's getting darker still, and several feet above their heads a street lamp flickers on, casting its dim yellow glow on the dry, salted pavement and throwing shadows on Wei's face. His hair shines redder and his chin seems sharper in the light, and then he leans down to kiss Tatsuya. His breath is warm and faintly sweet. Tatsuya stands up straighter, tilts his head up farther to meet Wei's lips at a better position. Wei's other hand cups his chin, thumbing his cheek.

They walk the rest of the way in silence punctured only by the hastened tempo of their shoes against the ground. A few stray snowflakes float through the air like chalk dust from clapped erasers and melt into the ground as they land.


End file.
